


Much Ado About Nothing

by AshleyTrecartin



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Love/Hate, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-23
Updated: 2014-06-23
Packaged: 2018-01-26 04:57:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1675532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshleyTrecartin/pseuds/AshleyTrecartin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth and Daryl are famous actors who cannot stand each other. When they get cast as the lead roles in a movie, they have to learn to work together. Will something spark between the two or are they destined to hate each other forever?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Much Ado About Nothing  
Prolog

Beth sighed and stretched out on her couch as he phone rang. She glanced at the number and answered. “Hey sis, what’s up?” she asked, flipping through the stations on her television. 

“I’ve got some good news,” Maggie said on the other end of the phone. That slightly piqued Beth’s interest. “There’s a movie that Rick is directing, you’d be perfect for the lead role.”

“Oh?” Beth sat up and turned her television off. “Do you have a script?”

“I do, do you want me to email it to you?” she asked. 

Beth smiled and went to her laptop. “Yeah, send it to me; I’ll call you back after I look it over.” Maggie agreed and hung up the phone. Beth logged into her email and printed out the script Maggie sent her. She sat on her couch with a glass of wine and flipped through the script. It looked like a good project. A love story between a guy and a girl who probably would never have met except they both missed a train one night. It seemed like a good story, and every teenage girl in America was going to want to see it. She sent her sister and manager a text, telling her to go ahead and set her up an audition. 

…

Daryl huffed as he climbed off his motorcycle and headed down the street. Work wasn’t going well lately and it was driving him crazy. He glanced at his phone when it started to ring. He quickly answered when he saw who it was. “Thank fuck, please tell me you have a job for me.”

Rick laughed on the other end of the phone. “Yeah, man, I do.” He huffed a little. “It’s not a bad story and I’d love for you to come in and audition for it.”

Daryl smirked a bit and stopped at a coffee shop to get his morning brew. “Yeah man, I haven’t been working much.” He ordered his coffee and paid for it before moving off to the side. “When do you want me to come in?” he asked. 

“Tomorrow would be great; it’s when we’ve got the bigger names coming in.”

Daryl nodded at the barista and grabbed his coffee before walking back out. “Who’re you looking at for the lead female role?” he asked. 

“Well...I know Beth Greene is coming in.” Daryl growled at her name. They did not get along, not at all. “Don’t worry about it, there are others coming in too, but if you both get it, I want you play nice.”

Daryl sighed and sat on a bench outside of the coffee shop. “Yeah, I’ll try. Send me the script.”

“Will do.”

Daryl hung up the phone and sighed. He really hoped Beth didn’t get the lead if he did. It would suck doing a whole movie with her. He didn’t really know what it was, but they had never gotten along, ever. She was a sexy little thing, but it didn’t matter, they hated each other. He sighed and opened up his email on his phone and started to read over the script. It was a typical chick flick, same old bullshit, but it was a job, and that was all that mattered to him.


	2. Chapter 2

Much Ado About Nothing  
Chapter 1

Beth rolled her eyes at the TMZ reporter who was going on and on about the latest Justin Bieber scandal. That kid needed some serious help, not more publicity. She glanced at the clock on the wall. She had a few hours before she needed to be at her audition. Maggie, her sister and manager, had sent over the script last night, and while Beth was confident she knew her part for her audition, she wanted to look it over a few more times. 

“Breaking news,” the reporter said enthusiastically. “We’ve just received word that the director, Rick Grimes, will be filming a new movie shortly and auditions are being held this week.” Beth sighed as she watched the report. Rick wasn’t going to be happy that someone leaked that to the press. “But what’s really interesting is who is auditioning for the lead roles.” The reporter smirked and Beth had a feeling she wasn’t going to like where this was going. “Up for the lead female role, we have the lovely, and always delightful, Beth Greene.” She watched as a photo of her from the last premier she attended popped up on the screen. “I think we can all agree that we love Beth’s work. Well, maybe not this man who is up for the lead male role, Daryl Dixon.”

Beth’s jaw dropped and hit the floor. How could anyone in their right mind think that putting them on the same movie was a good idea? They hated each other. “Now, it’s no secret that Beth and Daryl can’t stand each other, I mean, everyone remembers last year’s People Choice Awards right?” A video of them announcing together appeared on the screen and things quickly got awkward as they made jokes about each other that were a little better than passive aggressive. “Rick must be out of his mind, especially if he casts these two.” Beth turned off the television. 

The reporter had at least gotten one thing right; Beth and Daryl did hate each other. She wasn’t entirely sure why, mainly for lots of little reasons. If they both got the lead roles she wasn’t sure how the hell they were going to make a movie. Rick had to be out of his damn mind. 

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. There was no point getting all worked up about it right now. There was nothing written in stone that said she or Daryl was going to get the part. Worrying about it now was only going to make her stress out which would lead to a bad audition. 

Beth finished her coffee and headed back to her bedroom. This audition had to go well. It wasn’t that she was broke, far from it; Beth knew how to save and invest her money. This audition had to go well because she was bored out of her mind. If she had to sit on her couch and watch one more episode of Jerry Springer, she was going to scream. 

With a cleansing sigh, she dropped her clothes and walked into the bathroom, turning on the shower. With any luck she would get the part, and she wouldn’t have to work with Daryl. After her shower, Beth got dressed, grabbed her things and called for a taxi. Sitting in the back she looked out of the window and up at the Hollywood sign. Moving to L.A. had never been the plan; acting hadn’t been the plan either. Beth had always thought that she’d move to Nashville and get famous singing, that was her true passion. The acting had been sort of a happy accident. But, she was good at it, and she loved it. 

And she hadn’t forgotten about her music either. 

The taxi pulled up to the building auditions were going to be held in and Beth quickly paid and thanked the driver before heading inside. Her hands were shaking as she stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor. She had butterflies in her belly and she only grew more nervous the closer she got. Taking a deep, calming breath she stepped off the elevator and walked down to Rick’s suite. 

She froze when she walked through the door and saw Daryl sitting in one of the chairs, waiting to be called back. She wasn’t surprised to see him there, but when his shocked blue eyes locked with hers, she felt something jolt through her. She pushed it away, smiled as politely as she could and sat across from him. “Morning Daryl.”

He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. “No need for small talk, Greene, I don’t need to get sick before my audition.”

Beth huffed and crossed her arms. So much for being civil. She glanced at the script in her hand and chewed on her bottom lip. She knew looking at it would only make her nervous tension worse. She ran over her character and her lines in her head. When the door opened and a young blonde walked out, Beth jumped, the noise scaring her. She didn’t miss Daryl’s smug smirk. 

Rick leaned in the doorway and looked at the two of them. “Do you two think you can manage to get through an audition together without killing each other?” he asked. 

Daryl shrugged his shoulders and stood up, running a hand through his hair to push it out of his face. “I can if she can.”

Beth stood and smoothed out her skirt. “Anything you want, Rick.”

Rick nodded and let them both into the room. “Okay, next we’ve got Beth Greene and Daryl Dixon, both reading for the lead roles.” He sat back down between the casing director and the producer. “Whenever you’re ready guys.”

Beth looked at Daryl, easily slipping into character. Daryl had the opening lines of the scene. 

_Murphy huffed as he watched the train pull away. “Damn it,” he swore, kicking a crumpled up flyer for some local indie rock band. He was going to miss his interview now._

_“Was that the eleven to Chicago?”_

_Murphy turned, his eyes landing on the prettiest blonde he’d ever seen. “Uh, yeah, sorry.”_

_The woman frowned, her shoulders slumping down. “Damn, now what am I supposed to do?”_

_Murphy felt the same way. That interview had been probably his only shot at getting out of the little shit hole he lived in. He held out his hand to the blonde. “I’m Murphy.”_

_She smiled politely and shook his hand. “Emily. I take it you needed to be on that train too?”_

_He nodded. “Yeah, I had a job interview. What about you? What’s in Chicago?”_

_Emily sighed as they made their way over to a bench. “Family. My daddy is really sick.”_

_Murphy frowned and wracked his brain for a solution, for some way to get them both to Chicago. It was a five hour ride by train, a little longer to drive. Murphy had his truck parked outside. He was taking the train to save gas, but he really needed to make that interview and Emily looked like she really wanted to get home. It probably wasn’t the smartest idea in the world, but it was their only option. “I can get us to Chicago.”_

_Emily looked up at him. “How?”_

_“My truck is outside, I wasn’t going to drive because I really can’t afford the gas, but if you’re willing to split the cost, I’ll give you a ride.”_

_Emily’s eyes lit up. “Really? You mean that?” He nodded his head. “Oh thank you!” She threw her arms around him and hugged him. It didn’t last long once she realized what she was going. They were both blushing as she pulled away from him. “Uh, sorry about that.”_

_Murphy shrugged and grabbed their bags. “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled a bit and nodded towards the parking lot. “C’mon.”_

“That was prefect.” Rick locked between Daryl and Beth. “I can’t understand why you two hate each other. You work so well together.” He pulled out two more copies of the script, this time with a different scene. “Take these home and study them. You both have a callback.” 

Beth sighed as she sat in the back of another taxi, on her way home for the night. Rick had a point, and she couldn’t deny it anymore. She and Daryl did work well together; she’d picked up on it while they’d been acting. There was a spark there, a connection that allowed them to read each other and take cues almost perfectly. She had no idea what that meant, but she had a feeling that they were going to be working on this movie together. 

…

Daryl jolted awake and looked around his room to make sure he was really alone. He threw back the sheets on his bed and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that he really was alone. He scrubbed his hands over his face as he fell back against the pillows. He wasn’t sure if that had been one of the best dreams of his life, or the worst. It had been hot, and sexy, and had left him with a hard on from hell. The only problem was that it had been a sex dream about _Beth Greene_. He was slightly disgusted with himself. Out of all of the people in the whole damn world, why did it have to be her? He sighed as he climbed out of bed and headed to the shower. He needed one for more than one reason. Rick had better be as good of a friend as Daryl thought he was. If he was, he wouldn’t dream of casting both him and Beth in the same movie. He shuddered as he climbed out of the shower, having a flash back of his dream with Beth. She had a killer body, there was no denying that, but it was Beth for crying out loud. That hadn’t been a dream, it’d been a nightmare. 

If they were both casted as the lead roles for this movie, he would have to live his nightmare. There was a sex scene towards the end of the movie and he really didn’t want to have to do that with Beth. Rick had better pull through for him. 

Daryl grabbed his keys and helmet before walking out and climbing on his bike. He headed towards Rick’s office for his call back. When he pulled into the parking lot he wasn’t surprised to see Beth walking into the building. He sighed and climbed off his bike and headed inside, managing to miss the elevator Beth had taken thankfully. He caught the next one and headed up to Rick’s suite and walked inside. Beth was sitting there, looking over the script Rick had given them the day before. He smirked a little and sat across from her. “I’m sure you’ll be fine,” he told her; loving the dirty look she shot him. 

He looked up when Rick opened the door and looked at the two of them. “Oh look, you still haven’t killed each other yet.” He smirked and let them into the room. Daryl followed Beth in, making an effect not to look at her ass. “So you both read over the script?” Rick asked. They both nodded. “So you’re both aware that it’s the scene just before Emily and Murphy have sex?”

“Unfortunately,” Beth muttered. 

Daryl glared at her and opened his mouth to retaliate, but Rick cut him off. “Good, you know, now just act like you’re crazy about each other and act out the scene.” Rick sat back in his chair to watch. 

_Emily turned to look out of the window overlooking the city from Murphy’s hotel. He was supposed to be leaving in the morning to go back to Detroit and she didn’t know how she felt about that. They’d come to Chicago together and they’d spent every day together since they’d gotten here and she really didn’t want him to leave._

_She felt Murphy come to stand behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist, his chin resting on her shoulder. “What’s wrong?” he whispered._

_Emily shook her head, turning to look at him. “I don’t want you to leave.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do you have to?”_

_He sighed and pulled her close, rocking with her slowly. “I didn’t get the job, I can’t stay here forever.” He kissed her head. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for something._

_“Kiss me,” she whispered. Murphy cupped her face and slowly leaned in, kissing her._

“Okay, great guys.” Rick smirked and crossed his arms, leaning back. “You both got the parts. We start filming in a month.”

…

Daryl stared up at the ceiling that night, thinking about what fresh hell he’d just gotten himself into. In a month he would be spending way too many hours with Beth Greene. Sadly he could understand why Tick casted them. He’d picked up on it while they’d been acting out the scene earlier. They did have some pretty impressive chemistry for two people who hated each other. He sighed and rubbed his face. This was either going to be the end of him…or his career.


	3. Chapter 3

Much Ado About Nothing  
Chapter 2

Beth huffed as she lifted the last bag from her trunk and carried it up the steps of her trailer. Moving into the small space while filming was the only part about the job Beth didn’t love. She always missed her apartment, her bed, her nice hot shower with amazing water pressure. The plan was to film for three months, so it really wasn’t that bad, but she was going to be in heaven when she got back to her apartment. 

She set the bag on the table until she could get to it later. She hadn’t brought a lot of things, just her computer, some books, some photos, and a few outfits to wear on days she wasn’t filming. She was about to go find Maggie when the door to her trailer opened and Daryl walked in, looking as smug as ever. Beth scowled at him as he sat on her small couch. “You know, civil people, with manners, knock.”

He smirked, his blue diamond eyes cutting to her. “Yeah, well you know as well as I do that there’s nothing civil about us.”

Beth rolled her eyes, grabbing the bag she’d just brought in and moving it back to her bed. “Did you need something or did you just come in here to stink up the place?” She set the bag down and turned to look at him again. “Honestly, when was the last time you took a shower?”

“You’re once to talk. I can see how greasy your hair is from here.”

Anger started to get the better of her. Beth’s hair was not greasy, and he damn well knew it. He was just baiting her, trying to piss her off, and it was working. “If you just came here to be an asshole, you can leave. I have things to do.”

The way his lips quirked up and his arms folded over his chest, drawing his shirt tight pissed her off to no end. Why the hell did he have to be so damn attractive? “What’s wrong princess, you can dish it, but you can’t take it?” He got up, rolling his eyes. “I can’t understand how everyone can adore you so much. You must put on one hell of an act.”

“And you don’t?” Beth snapped. “Everyone thinks you’re this handsome, charming gentleman. They don’t know that you’re just a giant pain in the ass.”

…

Rick sighed, running a hand through his hair and looked at Glenn and Maggie. They’d all heard the shouting and had to come to see what was going on. They all knew that having Beth and Daryl working on the same movie together was going to be difficult, but they’d all thought that they’d at least get through the first day without going at it with each other. “This is going to be one long filming.”

“I can’t understand why they even hate each other,” Glenn muttered. “They’re practically soul mates.”

“Have you lost your mind?” Maggie shook her head and looked at Glenn. “In what universe are they soul mates?”

“He has a point,” Rick interjected. “The sexual tension between the two of them is one of the reasons they work so well together.” He just wished they could do it without all of the fighting. An idea popped into Rick’s head just then, an idea that might be able to solve all of their problems. “Both of you, my trailer, now.”

Rick left the bickering actors and headed for his own trailer, Maggie and Glenn following, albeit reluctantly; afraid that if they left Beth and Daryl alone together they may just kill each other. He opened the door, letting the two managers inside before following. “I have an idea.”

“What kind of an idea?” Glenn asked, sitting beside Maggie on Rick’s couch. 

Rick smirked, crossing his arms. “We get Beth and Daryl to fall in love with each other.” He was quiet pleased with his plan, and from the smirks Maggie and Glenn gave him, they were as well. 

“That’s genius, but how do we do that?”

Rick leaned back against the table. “By being incredibly sneaky.” Rick began to explain his plan to them, hoping and praying that this would work. 

…

Beth ran a hand through her hair as she walked off the set and headed back to her trailer. She’d just finished filming her first scene, and thankfully it had been one without Daryl in it. She couldn’t stand that man. She just wanted to go back to her trailer and fall asleep. 

“We don’t have a lot of time; Beth could be back any second.” Beth frowned, hearing her sister’s voice coming from inside Beth’s trailer. “Are you absolutely sure about this?” Maggie asked. Beth wanted to know who the hell she was in there with, and why they weren’t in Maggie’s trailer. 

“Positive. Daryl is in love with Beth.”

Beth nearly fell over, her interest more the piqued now. Glenn had to be on some kind of drugs, or drunk at the very least. There was no way he was telling the truth. 

“How can you be so sure?” Maggie asked. “All they do is fight. That doesn’t really sound like love to me.” Beth nodded; at least her sister didn’t seem to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. 

“He told me. All of the fighting and the insults, they’re just to hide how he really feels.”

“Maybe we should tell Beth.”

“No, we can’t tell her. Daryl said that if she ever found out he’d just deny everything.”

Beth frowned. Why would Daryl deny it? She heard Maggie sigh. “It’s probably best that we don’t, Beth would just mock and tease Daryl about it.” Beth glared at the window she was hiding under. “I love my sister, but she can be a real pain in the ass sometimes.”

“So what are we going to do about Daryl?” Glenn asked. 

“I’ll talk to him; tell him to keep fighting his love for Beth. Eventually he’ll get over her and move on.”

“That’s a good idea.” Glenn’s phone went off. “It’s Rick,” he told Maggie. 

Beth head them coming and swore under her breath, quickly running around to the back of her trailer to hide. Once Maggie and Glenn were out of sight, Beth quickly went inside her trailer and locked the door. 

Daryl was in love with her? Even though she’d heard it from her own manager, it was hard to believe. There was just no way. She sat down on her couch and thought about it. Maybe Daryl was in love with her. He was the one who almost always started their fights, hell, half the time he came looking for her. It would be a great way to cover up his true feelings. 

Beth smiled a little. Daryl being in love with her really wasn’t that bad of an idea. After all, he was handsome, talented, and there was something about his insanely intense blue eyes that always gave her butterflies. Maybe she could be in love with Daryl; it wouldn’t be the strangest thing that had ever happened. 

Deciding that she would at least test this little theory, Beth headed back to take a shower, her mood drastically changed, and a slight anticipation of when she’d get to see Daryl again. 

…

Daryl sighed, watching John McClane perform some death defying stunt in a hope to beat the bad guys. Those were the kind of movies he loved doing. Something with plenty of action and violence. But, he had to made money, so here he was, filming the feel-good chick-flick of the year with the one person he hated most. Life really was a bitch sometimes. 

He sighed and looked at his phone. It was almost time for him to head to the set to film his scene. “Sorry, McClane, gonna have to beat the baddies without me.”

“Maggie, you can’t be serious.”

Daryl muted his television, hearing Rick outside of his trailer. He was supposed to be on set, so what the hell was he doing here with Maggie? He smirked to himself. Maybe Beth was going to quit the movie. 

“Of course I’m serious, Rick,” Maggie hissed. “Why on earth would I make something like this up?”

Daryl heard Rick sigh. “I just can’t believe it.”

“I know, but it’s true. Beth is in love with Daryl.”

Daryl fell out of his chair. He had to have heard Maggie wrong. There was no way she’d just said that her little sister was in love with him. 

“What are we going to do about this?” Rick asked. 

“I don’t know, maybe we should tell Daryl?” Maggie suggested. 

“Absolutely not.” Daryl glared a bit. Rick didn’t have to sound so scared about telling him. “Do you have any idea what Daryl would do if he found out? He’d make her life a living hell.” Daryl rolled his eyes, now Rick was just being over dramatic. 

“So what should we do?” Maggie asked, her voice laced with concerned for her sister. 

Rick sighed. “We don’t do anything. Beth will get over Daryl soon enough. Besides, he’s not good enough for her anyways.” Rick’s phone started to ring. “I’ve got to get back to the set.”

Daryl waited until he was sure they were gone before getting off of the floor. He smirked to himself as he dusted off. So, little miss perfect was in love with him, was she? Daryl supposed it made sense. In an effort to hide her love from him, Beth was pretending to hate him. And he was attracted to her, even a blind man would be. 

One way or another he was going to get Beth to admit that she was in love with him. The one thing he didn’t know for sure as he walked out of his trailer and headed to the set, was that now he didn’t feel so bad about having that sex dream about Beth.


End file.
